


Elijah Starr

by clgfanfic



Category: War of the Worlds (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-21
Updated: 2013-02-21
Packaged: 2017-12-03 04:01:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/693870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clgfanfic/pseuds/clgfanfic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A missing scene from the episode "Dust to Dust."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Elijah Starr

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published in the zine Green Floating Weirdness #15 under the pen name Laura Grigsby.

_"They weren't aliens, were they."_

 

Driving back to the Westeskiwin reservation, Ironhorse wondered what Joseph Lonetree had planned for him.  It had been two weeks since his encounter with the old shaman and the alien war machine they'd found buried on reservation land.  Two weeks since he'd found himself on the medicine path despite all of his best intentions.

He could clearly recall his encounter with the Bear Spirit and the question the entity had asked: _Tell me why Paul Ironhorse's spirit is here._

 _I am looking for help_ , had been his reply.

"Help," he muttered to himself.  "What kind of help?"

Help to defeat the aliens was the obvious answer, but somehow that didn't seem quite right.  There was something else…

He slowed and turned off the highway, entering reservation land.  When he'd left the Cottage he wasn't even sure he remembered how to reach the small reservation, but something seemed to be guiding him.  _Joseph_ , he guessed.

The dirt road wound into the hills and he slowed to spare the Jeep's suspension.  The name Joseph had given him echoed through Paul's thoughts.  _Steps Like Quiet Thunder._

What did that mean?

 _You go forcefully, but silently when the terrain is unsure_.  Joseph's answer, but Ironhorse knew there was something more hidden among the words.

Forceful, silent…

Steps like quite thunder.

The Bear Spirit.

Joseph had named him after the Bear Spirit, the entity who controlled thunder and storms.  Why?

Joseph had as much as explained it to him, he realized.

_Paul Ironhorse, you are one with our spirits... It is remarkable…  You are not of our tribe, but you are one as if you were._

_And the Beings From Beyond?_ he wondered.  _Were they aliens, or spirits?_

He'd have to ask Lonetree.

_The spirits want you to have the knowledge of that legacy._

Paul's brow furrowed.  Hadn't Joseph given him that legacy when he'd taken his medicine bundle and added whatever it was he added?

Another question he needed to ask.

He reached the reservation lodge and parked alongside the log building.  Climbing out, he stretched, then closed the door.  Turning, he found Joseph standing on the covered porch, waiting for him with his staff.

Paul smiled.  "Joseph."

"It is good you came."

"You told me two weeks."

"Not everyone listens as carefully," Lonetree replied, watching his son cross the clearing and enter the building.

"I only have a day, I'm afraid," Ironhorse said.  "I never know when the aliens are going to get active."

"I understand," Joseph said.  "But Grace did make me promise to ask you if you would join us for dinner."

Paul grinned and felt the blush color his ears red.  "I think I can do that."

"Good.  Now, come with me."

Paul followed the old shaman into the trees, hiking for nearly an hour before they reached a small, well-kept cabin sitting on the edge of a modest mountain meadow.  Tall pines stood like sentries at both sides of the cabin.  On the covered porch, sitting in a weathered wooden chair was a man who made Lonetree look young.

They walked up to the porch and Joseph addressed the man in Westeskiwin.  He squinted at Paul, then nodded and waved them onto the porch.  Joseph spoke again, and the old man grunted.

Lonetree stepped inside, returning a moment later carrying two folding chairs. He handed one to Paul.  They opened the chairs and sat while the old man slowly filled his pipe and lit it.  After his first puff he looked at Ironhorse, offered the colonel a toothless grin and nodded.

"This is the man I told you about," Lonetree said in English.  "He is Paul Ironhorse.  Steps Like Quiet Thunder."

The old man's eyes narrowed, the black twinkle nearly disappearing into the folds of his wrinkles.  He grunted and stuck out a bony hand.  Paul took it and gave it a firm shake.

"I am Elijah Starr," the old man said in clear English.

"Pleased to meet you, sir," Paul replied.

Elijah chuckled softly, a sound like leaves blowing over dusty ground.  "He is polite," he said to Joseph.  "Don't see that much in the youngsters."

A lopsided grin split Paul's hesitant expression.  "I'm not really a youngster any more, Mr. Starr."

"Elijah," he corrected.  "My mother gave me that name, but Starr was courtesy of the U.S. government."

Paul shot Lonetree a hesitant look.

"I know you are an Army man," Elijah said before Joseph could say anything. "I do not hold it against you."

"Thank you, sir," Paul said, dipping his head.

"Do you know why you are here, Paul Ironhorse?"

Paul hesitated, then replied.  "At first I wasn't sure."

"And now?"

"Now I think it has something to do with the Bear Spirit, and—"  He stopped, afraid to speak the rest.

Joseph nodded.

"And the beings, from beyond the stars," Paul finished.  "They weren't aliens, were they."

"No, not aliens like those you fight," Elijah said.

"But they weren't human," Paul guessed.

"No, not like you or me.  They were beings of great power and goodness.  Beings of light," Elijah said, his expression almost euphoric.

"But what do they have to do with me?" Ironhorse asked.

"They are the a'ka'valic'tavic'ta," Elijah said, using the Westeskiwin word for the beings beyond the stars.  "They have the power to grant you survival… and victory."

"How?" Paul asked, feeling more confused than ever.

"You must accept the legacy they left for us," Joseph explained.

"How do I do that?" Ironhorse asked.  "I thought—"

"You must receive the spirit of Ha:vin-ay'ata'lic," Elijah stated, then refilled his pipe bowl.

"But I can't be away—"

Joseph's soft laugh stopped the colonel.  "You fasted before you came here, didn't you?"

"Yes," Paul admitted, wondering how the man knew.

Lonetree nodded.  "Then you are prepared."

Elijah stood.  "Come."

Together they walked further into the woods, finally stopping at a tall, thin boulder that had been carved by men stretching back to a time before any white man had ever set foot or gaze on the continent.  It was a place of power.

"This is the heart of the Westeskiwin people," Elijah said.  "When the a'ka'valic'tavic'ta first came here they erected this stone and from it they called the first Westeskiwin who walked this earth."

Paul reined in a strong desire to reach out and touch the stone.

"And it is here that they bestowed the legacy granted the Westeskiwin, our legacy of survival," Elijah said, then nodded to Lonetree.

The shaman raised his staff and a peel of thunder echoed over the mountain tops.  Paul glanced up, watching the eerie-looking clouds roll in.  The Bear Spirit was on the prowl.

Lightning flashed and Ironhorse felt his body tremble in anticipation.

"Tell the spirits of Rain and Thunder of your worth," Joseph commanded.

Paul looked up at the shaman's face and saw the Bear Spirit staring down at him.  "I am Paul Ironhorse," he stated.  "I am a warrior.  I fight for my people, my race."

The Bear Spirit growled.

"Paul Ironhorse, are you ready to own the Spirit?"

"Yes," the colonel replied, watching as the Bear Spirit suddenly dove toward him.

Paul felt the impact as the Spirit hit his chest and exploded inside him.  He felt his knees go weak, but managed to stay on his feet, using will power alone.  In front of his eyes lightning exploded and images of animals flashed – bear, hawk, wolf, deer, otter, salmon, eagle, and horse.

Elijah's voice echoed out of the kadilascopic images.  "You are Paul Ironhorse, but now you are also Westeskiwin.  You are Walks Like Quiet Thunder.  You are the legacy of the People, their legacy of survival."

The images collided and swirled, held in check only by the shadowy outline of the Bear.  He felt the spirits enter his heart, his muscles, his mind, becoming as much a part of him as his own thoughts and feelings.

Slowly the images faded and Ironhorse staggered forward several steps until he could reach out and lean against the tall stone.  He sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly, the vertigo evaporating with it.  He blinked and looked around.  The old man was gone.

"Where's Elijah?"

Lonetree shrugged.  "No one knows where he goes, or why he comes."  The puzzled look on Ironhorse's face prompted the additional, "When my grandfather was alive, Elijah was an old man, like he is now.  And his grandfather remembered an old man who watched the rock."

"That's impossible," Paul said.

Joseph shrugged.  "It is the truth."

"Then what is he?"

"He is from beyond the stars," Joseph said simply.

Paul started to argue, then shook his head and chuckled softly.  "He probably is."  He met Lonetree's paternal gaze.  "What now?  What do I do?"

"What you are already doing, Paul Ironhorse."

"But—"

"You carry the legacy of the Westeskiwin people.  When you need it, that legacy will serve you well."

"But _how_ do I use it?"

Lonetree smile.  "It will use you."

Paul paused, feeling the stirrings of the Bear Spirit in himself.  He nodded.  "What next?"

"Supper," Joseph announced.  "Or Grace will never speak to me again."

Ironhorse grinned and nodded.  He had the time, of that he was absolutely sure.  "Couldn't let that happen."

They started off together.  "So, Paul Ironhorse, what are your intentions concerning my daughter?"

"Sir?"


End file.
